1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to burner assembly for an outdoor cooking stove, to an outdoor cooking stove incorporating the inventive burner assembly, and to a kit for building the outdoor stove. More particularly, the present invention relates to a burner assembly in which a burner element includes a hollow gas distribution ring having a first set of apertures formed therein at a first level and a second set of apertures formed therein at a second level; to an outdoor stove including the described burner, and to a kit for building the stove.
2. Description of the Background Art
A number of different designs are known for outdoor cooking stoves, and burners intended for use with outdoor stoves. Examples of some of the known outdoor cooking stoves include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,825,325, 4,726,350, 4,759,339, 5,979,431, and 6,131,561. A gas burner which includes a removable drip cover is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,232.
Although the known stoves and burners have some utility for their intended purposes, a need still exists in the art for an outdoor cooking stove which is superior to the currently available models. In particular, there is a need for an improved outdoor cooking stove and burner which is relatively clean-burning and which efficiently uses a compressed gas fuel.
The present invention provides a burner assembly for an outdoor cooking stove, to a cooking stove incorporating the burner, and to a kit for building the stove. A burner according to a particular embodiment of the present invention uses a gas distribution ring with a first set of primary apertures, supplemented by a set of secondary apertures which are smaller than the primary apertures, and which are located therebelow. Optionally, the gas ring may include additional sets of primary and secondary apertures.
A burner apparatus in accordance with the present invention includes a hollow gas distribution ring, and an attached fuel conduit for routing pressurized fuel to the gas ring. Preferably, the gas distribution ring has a central opening formed substantially vertically therethrough, which does not communicate with the interior of the ring.
The gas ring has a hollow plenum formed therein. In a specific embodiment, the gas ring includes a base portion and an annular cap which is attachable to the base portion. The annular cap has a plurality of primary apertures formed therethrough in a defined pattern, as well as a plurality of secondary apertures which are smaller than the primary apertures. The secondary apertures are located at a level below the primary apertures.
The fuel conduit has a hollow passage formed therethrough, which is in fluid communication with the plenum of the gas distribution ring.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved outdoor cooking stove and burner therefor.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a kit of components which may be assembled to construct the stove hereof.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, the reader is referred to the following detailed description section, which should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the following detailed description and in the drawings, like numbers refer to like parts.